Cam controlled contour polishing



1952 F. R; WHITCOMB 2,581,157 CAM CONTROLLED CONTOUR POLISHING Filed Oct. 19, 1949 2 SHEETSSHEET 1 IN V EN TOR.

Jan. 1, 1952 R WHlTCOMB 2,581,157

CAM CONTROLLED CONTOUR POLISHING I 7 Filed 001?. 19, 1949 2 SHEETS--SHEET 2 2 3 {IVI ENTOR IZmnssr R. MIITCONB Patented Jan. 1, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENTv OFFICE CAM CONTROLLED CONTOUR POLISHING Forrest R. Whitcomb, Worcester, Mass. Application October 19, 1949, Serial No. 122,203

8 Claims.

This invention relates to new and improved machines for contour abrading, polishing, and bufiing, the polishing wheels being moved relative to the work under control of a cam, which cam may be generated from the work piece upon the same machine if desired.

The principal object of the invention resides in the device as above described and including a pair of polishing or abrading wheels which are moved in and out to and from each other according to a cam, at opposite sides of a work piece, and comprising means for makin them completely uniform with respect to each other as to movement and pressures, there bein a roll at each side of the work piece so as to operate on both sides thereof simultaneously.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of a floating cylinder which is secured to a lever on which is rotatably mounted a polishing wheel, said cylinder being provided with a piston rod which is secured to another lever carrying another polishing wheel and adapted to operate on the opposite side of the work piece; in combination with a balanced valve for controlling the relative motion of the piston rod relative to the valve housing, said valve being controlled and operated through a linkage system from the cam whereby the two working rolls are moved toward and away from each other uniformly and in unison depending upon the contour of the cam.

Another object of the invention resides in a machine as above stated where a work piece may be passed between the rolls and upon locking of the control linkage to the valve housing, causes the cam follower to be moved, so as to outline the cam which may then be out according to the outline.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing in which Fig. l is a view in end elevation of a machine according to the present invention, parts being in section;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical section through the cylinders and valves; and

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the cylinder houslng.

-R,eference is herein made to my co-pending application, Serial No. 92,240 filed May 9, 1949, wherein some of the parts are the same as in this case, the. machine illustrated in said application being the same as the one herein, this present invention illustrating an attachment therefor.

For example, the vertically reciprocating head l0, piston rod l2, piston I4, and main cylinder l6 are all just as in the previously filed application and the same is true of the work W which. however, in the present case is shown as having irregular outlines.

Also, the reference numeral l8 herein indicates the four-way valve 92 of the previous case and the reversing valve 20 is the same as that shown at 34, and it is to be understood that the entire hydraulic system is the same so that it need not be disclosed, except as appears in Fig. 1 herein.

However, it is to be understood that with the valve 20 in one position, an impulse is impressed in a line 22; whereas if the valve is in the other position, the impulse is impressed in line 24, but each of these lines is controlled by its own hand valve 26 and 28 for reasons which will appear hereinafter.

The reference numeral 30 indicates the base or end plate for the entire machine and on it are mounted a pair of pins 32 pivotally mounting interengaged sector gears 34 arranged as bell cranks with levers 36 and 38. The upper ends of the levers 36 and 38 terminate in bearings which rotatably mount the polishing or abrading rolls 40 which besides rotating, have a substantially rectilinearly motion as indicated by the horizontal arrows, the vertical arrows indicating the direction of reciprocation of the work piece between the rolls 40.

It will be well understood that if the work piece W is irregular or tapers in outline, it is desirable to move the polishing rolls in conformance therewith so as to apply equal abrading pressures on the work piece throughout the entire surface thereof.

There is provided a cylinder 42 which is connected at 44 to lever 36 intermediate the ends of the latter, and a piston rod 46 having a piston 48 in the cylinder extends outwardly therefrom and is pivoted at 50 intermediate the ends of lever 38, this cylinder being otherwise unsupported and floating.

It will be clear that pressure at the right hand side of piston 48 will cause the rolls to separate and pressure at the left hand side thereof will cause the rolls to come together with equal pressure or force.

The pressures in cylinder 42 are provided by .means of a line 52 entering a valve housing 54 and passing through a hollow valve element 56 to the opposite side thereof so that the valve element 56 is completely balanced by having equal pressures at either side.

A port all leads through a passage 60 to a port 62 at the right hand end of cylinder 42; and a similar port 54 leads through a passage 66 to the left hand end of cylinder 42 at 68. Thus with the parts as shown in Fig. 2, there is no pressure exerted at either side of the piston, but a slight movement to the right of valve element 55 applies pressure to the right hand side of the piston; and a slight movement of valve element 56 to the left will apply pressure to the left hand side of the piston 48. The valve element 56 is controlled by means of a rod H! rectilinearly movable by means of a lever '52 pivoted at M, lever 12 having a connecting link it pivoted to a cam follower lever 13 provided with a against the cam 82 by means of a spring cam 32 may be connected to the head moves therewith.

Thus, as the cam 62 moves down, the follower 89 causes lever 18 to oscillate, in turn oscillating lever 12 and moving link 10 to actuate valve member 55 as above stated, the gear segments 34 maintaining the relative positions of the levers 36 and 38.

It is desirable especially with tapered or irregular workpieces, that upon reaching the end of the stroke, the pressure on the rolls d8 be increased to achieve a rapid reversal. It is usually preferable to run the rolls apart at the ends of the stroke to avoid rounding oh the corners, but this slows up the operation of the machine hence the desirability to bring the rolls back quickly for the next stroke.

To accomplish this purpose there is provided a hydraulic cylinder 88 having a piston rod 96 spring pressed downwardly by a spring 92 to tend to draw a bell crank 94 in a clockwise direction, one arm of the bell crank bein pivotally connected at 96 to the bottom end of lever 18. An impulse received through line 98 causes the piston 96 to rise to a degree limited by a set screw IE8 and thus pivot the lever 18 ina direction which will cause the link 16 and lever 12 to actuate valve 56 to tend to bring the rolls 4 toward each 86. The ID and other. This entire hydraulic device is mounted on a plate I02 which may be adjusted by means of a screw and a nut arrangement I04 on the base 30.

It will be seen that the hydraulic impulse in line 93 will be achieved at the end of each stroke due to the reversal and four-way valves, and these impulses will be received in lines 22 and 2d which can be closed by valves 2!? and 28 in cases where the compensation is desired only at thetop of the bottom stroke. Further, any wear in the linkage can be taken up by adjusting parts H30 and I 02.

A screw N16 is provided to fix rod in to the housing 54, whereupon the action of the device will be the reverse of that stated above. is, as the head iii descends, the rolls 40 are moved to and from each other and this causes the link 16 to move the lever '58 todescribe an outline by roller 88, which outline may be cut out, forming the cam.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed otherwise than as set forth in the claims, but what I claim is:

1. Apparatus of the class described comprising a pair of movable supports, an abrading roll on each support, floating hydraulic cylinder and piston means respectively connected to the supports to move the latter toward and away from each other, a valve controlling the cylinder and follower 86 pressed That 3 piston to determine the spacing of the supports, a moving cam, and a cam follower therefor connected to the valve to control the latter and. thereby cause the supports and abrading rolls to move toward and away from each other according to the cam contour.

2. Apparatus of the class described comprising a pair of movable supports, an abrading roll on each support, floating hydraulic cylinder and piston means respectively connected to the supports to move the latter toward and away from each other, a valve controlling the cylinder and piston to determine the spacing of the supports, a movin cam, a cam follower therefor connected to the valve, to control the latter and thereby pause the supports. and abrading rolls to move toward and away from each other according to the cam contour, and gearing interconnecting the supports for uniform simultaneous movement.

3. Apparatus of the class described comprising a pair of movable supports, an abrading and polishing roll on each support, a hydraulic cylinder connected to one support, a piston-and rod for the cylinder connected to the other support, means effective to apply pressure to either side of the piston selectively according to a cam to separate the supports or to draw the same toward each other, a cam for said means, a cam follower movable by the cam to control the said means, and means to move the cam through a cycle.

4. Apparatus of the class described comprising a pair of movable supports, an abrading and polishing roll on each support, a hydraulic cylinder connected to one support, a piston and rod for the cylinder connected to the other support, means effective to apply pressure to either side of the piston selectively according to a cam to separate the supports or to draw the same toward each other, a cam for said means, a cam follower movable by the cam to .control the said. means, and means to move the cam through the cycle, said cylinder and piston being otherwise unsupported, and means efiective to cause the supports to move in unison.

5. Apparatus of the class described comprisin a pair of movable supports, an abrading roll on each support, a hydraulic cylinder and piston means to move the supports toward and away from each other, a valve controlling the cylinder and piston, a cam, a cam follower connected to the valve to actuate the latter by movement of the cam follower, work reciprocating means, said cam follower being connected to the work reciprocating means for movement thereby.

6. Apparatus of the class described comprising a reciprocatory head, means to secure work pieces thereto, a cam on the head for reciprocation thereby, a movable cam follower, a valve movable according to the cam follower, a cylinder. piston, and piston rod controlled by the valve, a lever pivoted to the cylinder, another lever pivoted to the piston rod, a working roll on each lever, and gearin connecting the levers for uniform swing thereof, the work pieces being located to be reciprocated between the rolls.

7. Apparatus of the class described comprising a reciprocatory head, means to secure work pieces thereto, a cam on the head for reciprocation thereby, a movable cam follower, a valve movable according to the cam follower, a cylinder, piston, and piston rod controlled by the valve, a lever pivoted to the cylinder, another lever pivoted to the piston rod, a working roll on each lever, and gearing connecting the levers for uniform swing thereof, the work pieces being located to be reciprocated between the rolls, a link connecting the cam follower and valve, and means to fix the link to the valve to cause inoperation of the valve, whereby the work piece will cause movement of the cylinder and cam follower to outline the cam.

8. Apparatus of the class described comprising a pair of movable supports, an abrading roll on each support, hydraulic cylinder and piston 1a means to move the supports toward and away from each other, a valve controlling the cylinder and piston, a cam, and a cam follower connected to the valve, another cylinder, a piston and rod therefor, the latter bein connected to the cam 1 follower to move the latter in addition to the cam originated movement, whenever the second named cylinder is energized, a third cylinder to 6 reciprocate the cam, a reversing mechanism therefor, and means selectively operable by the reversing mechanism to energize the second named cylinder at the ends of the stroke of the third cylinder.

FORREST R. WHITCOMB.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,304,580 Luers Dec. 8, 1942 2,379,037 Rosen June 26, 1945 2,460,250 Johnson et al. Jan. 25, 1949 2,475,455 Nicholas July 5, 1949 

